Life writing, Baltic anthropology, murder mystery, post-communist mental health companion, it slips between genres

Thirteen-year-old Iulia is a precious existentialist who lives with her family in a tower block in early-2000s Bucharest. When her best friend is killed in a car accident, she turns detective; investigating ‘what really happened’ becomes a comfort, a puzzle to hold onto. 

She is guided by Doamna Elvira, her enigmatic top-floor neighbour (and possibly a former informant for the Securitate, the Communist Party’s secret police). Under her tutelage, Iulia learns how to actually look at a place: whose lights are on too late? Which stories don’t match? A borrowed key, an overheard row and a caretaker’s old ledger with names crossed out lead Iulia’s small, cosy “casework” to peel back the block’s hidden histories – along with Doamna Elvira’s own murky past.

Meanwhile, the British Council Library becomes her refuge, where books and the promise of the National English Olympiad offer a way out, and her friendship with Marton, a thoughtful classmate, becomes an anchor. But when he leaves for the UK, Iulia must find a way to move beyond loss and begin imagining a future of her own.

For readers of punky life writing, from Édouard Louis to Saba Sams, as well as those drawn to the quiet warmth of The Elegance of the Hedgehog.